VITA to give free tax help

Free tax assistance will be available on campus through the end of March for those who qualify.

Nearly 75 volunteers, most of whom are students from the Maurer School of Law and Kelley School of Business, are participating in the Internal Revenue Service’s Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program.

They will assist low-income, elderly, disabled, and limited-English-speaking clients filing their tax returns.

“The VITA program is an excellent opportunity for our students to give back to the Bloomington community by using their knowledge to assist low-income taxpayers,” Ajay Mehrotra, associate dean and professor of law, said in a press release. “It is also a good way for students to learn more about the federal income tax system and how it touches so many aspects of everyday life.”

These students have gone through tax law training as well as software training, and were required to pass a certification test before interacting with clients directly to ensure they could properly aid the residents who come in.

The program is a community partnership with the Monroe County United Way’s Free Community Tax Service.

Charles Gray, the site coordinator for IU’s Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program, said most student volunteers come from the business school, while the law school provides rooms for the weekly clinics.

“This is a joint program with both schools providing equal input,” he said. “Without Kelley students’ accounting and business backgrounds, our legal expertise wouldn’t be of much use to our clients.”

Residents with an annual income of $52,000 or less are eligible for assistance as long as they have not received income from the sale of stocks, mutual funds or homes and do not own businesses.

Clients will also need a W-2, photo identification, Social Security, and other income sources.

Non-U.S. citizens are required to have their passport and immigration paperwork.
Walk-in clinics started Monday and will continue every Monday and Tuesday 6 to 9 p.m. until March 25 in Maurer  125.

Sessions will also take place 9 a.m. to 5 p.m March 8 and 29 in the undergraduate building of Kelley 200 and 202.

There will be no sessions on March 17th and 18th.

Gray said in past years, mostVITA clients have been foreign students, so volunteers in the program have become proficient in preparing taxes for those students each year.
The program is important because many clients would have nowhere else to turn, he said.

“I can say without hesitation that I believe our site is the most well equipped to aid foreign student taxpayers with the labyrinthine process of the American tax system,” he said. “For many of these students, they speak English as a second language and have little-to-no experience with our system of government and revenue.”

In the past, VITA has found hundreds, and in some cases, thousands of dollars worth of unexpected refunds, according to a release.

“Without our services, preparing a tax return would be a daunting prospect,” Gray said. “Our assistance makes the stressful process of tax season much less so.”

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